After a lovely relaxing afternoon/evening yesterday we were well prepared for our 4 hour journey today. We were leaving Norway for the moment and making our way into Östersund, Sweden.
Keith had been warned that there were to be no more Hell jokes today, however, the hotel had other ideas and my very thoughtful husband collected our cutlery and set our breakfast table with a very big smile.
In the hour from leaving Hell and reaching the Norwegian/Swedish Border there were a couple of wonderfully located rest stops that had great views to the fast running Stjørdalselva River.
When we crossed the border into Sweden we came across this road sign. As with the tank signs through Germany we found this so unusual. There’s no way we have any need for signs like this at home.
Our next stop was the Tännforsen Waterfall. With a width of 60m across and a height of 38m Tännforsen is by far, Sweden’s largest waterfall. In winter the waterfall freezes in its entirety and a dramatic ice wall is formed.
There is a short 30 minute, 1km walk to the waterfall which we really enjoyed. At one time there must have been a cafe and souvenir shop but both appeared to have been closed for some time.
It was awesome to be able to get so close to the waterfall via the walking platforms. The noise of the waterfall was so loud! The spray and mist from the water hitting the rocks and the river below made for some great photos. To see a short video we took with the iPhone click here.
We spent a while exploring the Waterfall and surrounds and utilised the abandoned outdoor eating area to have a coffee and some lunch before moving on.
Duveds Kyrka (Church) is a wooden church built in the neo-Gothic style that both externally and internally resembles a cathedral. It is often referred to as “the cathedral among the mountains”. After nearly 25 years of discussion and planning its construction was finalised in 1894.
Only 8km away is the town of Åre, the home of the Åre Old Church (Gamla Åre Kyrka), which was built in the late 12th century entirely from stone. It remains the only stone church in Scandinavia from the Middle Ages, all other historical middle aged churches as we’ve seen are made from timber in the stave church style.
The Old Church has capacity for only 100 parishioners which prompted the construction of the 900 seat Duveds Church we just visited.
The church bells can be found in a seperate building, pictured below which was built between 1755-1760.
We arrived in Östersund and after having some dinner and doing a lot of washing we called it a night.
Still no Moose!
Cool Stuff We Did 